Runaway dog saved in storm

Steven H. Foskett Jr. TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Published Wednesday October 31, 2012 at 6:00 am

PHOTO/ T&G Staff/STEVE LANAVA

Dottie Vaillancourt, left, and her son, Nicholas, 13, second from the right, were reunited with their dog, Dewey, yesterday, after the dog was found by Bruce Foss, second from the left, and Paul Brulé a few miles away.

While most residents probably fretted about losing a tree or their basements flooding as Hurricane Sandy’s reach extended to Central Massachusetts, Dottie Vaillancourt was only thinking about Dewey, her 5-year-old Chinese crested dog.

Dewey ran off Sunday night as Ms. Vaillancourt and her son Nicholas were prepping for Sandy. The dog wasn’t found until yesterday morning by two neighbors a few miles away on North Parkway.

Just like the “perfect storm” of 1991 that so many meteorologists recalled as they talked about Sandy over the weekend, a few things had to come together just right for Dewey to make a clean getaway.

Ms. Vaillancourt said she and Nicholas were taking in outdoor furniture Sunday afternoon, and Dewey and his Chinese crested companion Gracie were secured inside the house.

Dewey, who has hair on his face and legs, but barely any on his little body, had escaped once before and was eventually found in West Boylston, Ms. Vaillancourt said. After that incident, his owner said, she invested in a GPS-equipped collar for him. Just by chance, he wasn’t wearing it Sunday afternoon. A miscommunication about whether the outdoor gate was open gave Dewey the window of opportunity he needed, and he was off.

Dewey is a rescued dog who, Ms. Vaillancourt said, was abused as a puppy. As a result, he’s very skittish around people. In fact, after consulting with his veterinarian, Ms. Vaillancourt adopted Gracie to make Dewey comfortable.

“He’s afraid of his own shadow,” she said.

As the high winds and rains started pelting the area Monday afternoon, Ms. Vaillancourt feared the worst. Dewey starts to shiver if he’s not wearing a sweater outside when it’s less than 60 degrees out. He had a sweater on when he escaped, but it was likely drenched as he ran through the streets during the storm.

“I thought he was dead,” she said.

She said she immediately put out an ad on Craigslist with a picture of Dewey and her contact information, and drove around looking for him. She said she has made progress in training Dewey, but she wasn’t confident he would come when called.

On Monday morning, Bruce Foss called.

The North Parkway resident’s neighbor, Paul Brulé, was putting out his recycling yesterday morning when he saw Dewey in his front yard. As he approached, Dewey ran into neighbor Bruce Foss’ yard, hiding in some bushes near his deck.

Mr. Brulé called Mr. Foss, and the pair tried to coax Dewey out with cookies. He ate the cookies, but stayed put, they said.

Mr. Foss took to the Internet to see what he could do. He considered calling animal shelters, but on a whim decided to quickly check Craigslist. He found the ad, matched the picture, and called Ms. Vaillancourt, who came over and scooped up Dewey.

Yesterday afternoon, Mr. Foss and Mr. Brulé came over to see Ms. Vaillancourt and Dewey, who seemed unfazed by the ordeal, although the GPS tracker was firmly affixed to his collar. Gracie was definitely the extrovert of the pair, wagging away and pleading to be petted.

Mr. Foss and Mr. Brulé both said they recently had teenage dogs who died and they wanted to do everything they could for Dewey. Mr. Foss said he got a lot of nice feedback on his Facebook page.